The Syrian Army has reported that it has shot down an Israeli F-16 that violated Syrian airspace to carry out an attack on Syrian Army positions near Palmyra. According to Russian political scientist Gevorg Mirzayan, Israel has jeopardized an unwritten Russian-Syrian-Israeli code of conduct, and Moscow's future position in the Middle East.
On Friday, the Syrian Army reported that it had shot down one Israeli Air Force jet, and damaged a second, after a squadron of four Israeli Air Force F-16s had entered Syrian airspace and targeted Syrian Army units near Palmyra. The IDF denied that any aircraft were shot down, but did not deny that the attack itself had taken place.
According to political scientist Gevorg Mirzayan, as far as Moscow is concerned, whether the Israeli plane was lost or not is not what's at stake here. Rather, he suggested, the issue is how Friday's events will affect the very delicate strategic balance in the region.
Russia, Mirzayan recalled, had held consultations with regional powers, including Israel, before starting its counterterrorism operation in Syria in September 2015. This, the expert noted, consisted of an attempt by Russia to establish certain 'rules of the game' which were meant to avoid clashes between the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and the other parties operating in the country.